Laboratory Simulation of the Dynamics of a Dense Plasma Cloud Expanding in a Magnetized Background Plasma on a Krot Large-Scale Device

Abstract

The first experimental results on the dynamics of a plasma cloud produced by a miniature coaxial gun in a magnetized background plasma have been reported. The record dimension of the plasma in the Krot device, which is more than 1 m across a magnetic field, has allowed the first implementation of the regime of “unbounded” background plasma, which is optimal for the simulation of astro- and geophysical phenomena. In the sub-Alfvénic regime of cloud expansion, a set of characteristic effects has been demonstrated, including the formation of a diamagnetic cavity, deceleration of ions of the cloud by the background plasma, and development of high-frequency instability at the edge of the cloud.